His Own Gem
by wille179
Summary: Humanity survived the second gem war, but the fallout has left much of the world a monster infested wasteland, even hundreds of years later. And while three fourths of humanity's secret protectors are gone, the Pink Knight still lives.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue: Gem War Two

Steven bounded down the stairs, as full of energy as ever. The hyperactive thirteen year old gem-human hybrid ran screaming and laughing from a purple dog-copter that fired water balloons every time it barked. Amethyst, who just happened to be said dog-copter, spent every moment that she wasn't barking laughing.

A water balloon shot over the warp pad and towards the door to the Crystal Gems' rooms. It just so happened that at that very moment, Pearl stepped out of her room. The water balloon struck her square in the chest.

"Ah! Amethyst! What have I told you about water balloons in the house?"

The dog-copter transformed back into a short, plump young woman. "Uh, not to do it? I don't see what your problem is, P. It's just a little water."

"Just a little water?" Pearl spluttered. "I'm soaking wet!"

"Meh," Amethyst replied dismissively, "it'll dry."

Pearl clenched her fist, but didn't press the issue further. Instead, she turned her attention to the giggling form of Steven Universe. "Steven, it's time for your bi-annual checkup."

The smile vanished off the hybrid's face. "Aww... Do I have to, Pearl?"

"Steven, you are both a growing boy and a growing gem. Something like you has never existed before and I want to make sure you're healthy and not, you know, _diseased."_ Pearl spoke the word as if the syllables themselves would infect her.

Steven perked up a tad at that explanation. "Oh, alrighty. Lead the way, Dr. Pearl!"

"I'm not a doctor," Pearl corrected automatically, but still blushed at the compliment to her skills. As Steven had commanded, she did lead him into a room in the temple, one that served as the closest thing to an infirmary that gems had. In it, Pearl had stashed a mishmash of human and ancient gem technology, as well as her own contraptions.

She motioned for Steven to seat himself in a nearby chair. As he did so, she retrieved a scanning device that would allow her to analyze Rose's - Steven's - gem, a sort of multi-purpose diagnostic tool for gem kind.

She started to power up the machine, but then stopped. "Steven, sit still or this will take longer than it needs to. The sooner we're done here, the sooner you can go back to playing with Amethyst."

Steven, upon being told a way to maximize his playtime, froze in place and held his breath.

"Steven," Pearl said.

He did not respond.

She repeated, "Steven."

He still remained silent.

"You're going to need to breath sometime, Steven. Don't worry, breathing won't mess it up."

Steven, who had started to turn faintly blue, released his breath. "Sorry."

Powering up the scanner, Pearl placed it against his belly-button gem. "It's fine." A second later, the device beeped. Looking down, Pearl took note of the values it displayed and jotted them down on her files for Steven.

In the margins of his file, during his last checkup, Pearl had written "Upwards trend?" next to a set of data. Today's numbers only confirmed it, much to Pearl's worried confusion. She didn't know what the pattern meant for Steven quite yet, and she didn't think it was anything dangerous, but it worried her all the same.

Just what was happening to Rose in there?

Pearl carefully placed a smile on her face. "Everything looks fine with your gem, Steven," she half-lied. "Go hop on the scale so I can weigh you."

"Ok!"

She hoped everything would be fine. It didn't look bad, but Pearl worried anyway. Perhaps Garnet would have some insight.

* * *

"Ok, Steven. You're all set," Pearl declared. "Go play."

"Yay! Thank you, Pearl!" Steven bolted off, yet again propelled by that boundless energy and enthusiasm that he got from both of his parents.

Pearl, watching him run towards the beach, smiled. She quite enjoyed days like this, where there was nothing to do except for tidying up.

Behind her, the door to their rooms burst open. Garnet, in a mad dash, rushed past Pearl and grabbed her arm without stopping. Pearl found herself off balance as she was yanked behind the sprinting fusion. "GARNET!"

"NO TIME! MUST FIND AMETHYST AND STEVEN!" Garnet yelled back.

Pearl was about to reply that their purple compatriot was on the beach with Steven, but Garnet was already dragging her in that direction. Garnet burst through the door of the beach house, knocking it completely off its hinges. "STEVEN! CATCH!"

Garnet hurled something at Steven, which he easily caught. Pearl quickly recognized it as his cell phone. "Call Connie, her parents, and your father," Garnet ordered. "Get them here NOW! Their lives depend on it!"

Despite being thoroughly freaked out, Steven stilled dialed his father's number. "Dad!"

Amethyst ran up to the other two gems. "What's goin' on, Garnet?"

"Homeworld is coming, and they're bringing an army."

* * *

Crates, dozens of them, and all of them real instead of cloud, were stacked up inside of Rose's room. Some contained weapons and artifacts, others contained important documents, but most contained MREs and water. In fact, if you measured it out, there was enough food and water to support five adult humans for nearly a year.

Connie's family, Greg Universe, and all of their most important belongings were also inside the room. In fact, the only people that were supposed to be in there but weren't were Steven and Connie themselves. "Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, come on! We can fight!" Steven cried.

"Yeah! Pearl trained us herself," Connie added. "She knows how good we are!"

Garnet kneeled before them and put a gem-bearing hand on each of their shoulders. "And that is precisely why we are having you hide in here with your families," Garnet said. "You are the last line of defense protecting them from homeworld. Steven, whatever happens, Connie needs you, your father needs you, and the whole world needs you. They need Steven, the mighty Crystal Gem, as their protector. And Connie, Steven and your families need you in the same way."

Garnet stood once more. "But in order to fight another day, you need to save yourselves _now._ "

"But what about you?" a teary-eyed Steven asked.

"Don't worry; we'll be alright. Future vision, remember?" Garnet rubbed Steven's head affectionately.

"Right!" Steven said, regaining his composure. "I'll keep them safe! Be back soon!"

"Steven," Pearl spoke. "Remember, read the commands to the room _exactly_ as I wrote them. Anything else could get you guys hurt."

"Got it!" Steven said. "Exactly. As. You. Wrote. Them!"

"See ya, big guy!" Amethyst said. "We'll miss you, but we'll see you soon." Garnet and Pearl nodded in agreement.

"Bye!" Steven said. Grabbing Connie's hand, he lead her into Rose's room, shutting the door behind him.

As soon as she was sure that their ward and his friend couldn't hear her, Pearl asked, "Garnet, are we really going to make it?"

The red fusion was silent for an eerily long time. "There is... a possibility. The odds are-"

Pearl cut her off. "For once, I don't want to hear the odds, Garnet. A chance is enough for me."

"Awww yeah, now you're talkin', P!" Amethyst cheered. "Let's go whoop some homeworld butt!"

Her enthusiasm, despite the dreadful circumstances, was contagious. Garnet and Pearl found slight smiles forming on their faces as well. "I wouldn't have put it as such, but I agree. Let's 'whoop' copious amounts of posterior."

Together, the three of them stepped onto the warp pad. In a flash of light, they vanished, never knowing that that would be the last time they ever saw Steven Universe.


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to the Future

The large beast moved silently through the ruins. Its kind was not native to this island or the nearby continent. Nor did its kind usually have pink fur, magic, or eternal youth.

And while Lion and his master may have weathered the test of time well, Manhattan had not. Its current population stood at a whopping four, one of those being Lion himself. Nothing grew here, not even plants. The whole island and much of the surrounding continent had had the life sucked out of it over two hundred years ago, and hadn't recovered since

The Diamond War, the war of Flesh and Stone, the war for Earth. It had been called all of those things, back in the day. Today, it was known as one thing, and one thing only:

The Calamity.

In the space of twenty years, the seven billion people on Earth had been culled to a little over fifty million. Civilization had collapsed almost completely.

And yet, Humanity had won against the invading gems, if only just. And those that were left picked up the scraps of civilization and cobbled together the best life they could.

Which brings us back to the three extraordinary people accompanying Lion. First, leaning against the rusted, burnt husk of a car was a Mr. Greg Universe, strumming his ancient guitar. If one were to look at him now and compare him to the days before the calamity, they would notice that he had significantly more hair, which was strange, seeing as he should have been dead long ago. At the very least, he should have looked to be in his mid-forties, not mid-twenties.

Secondly, clapping her hands in time with the music was a young-looking woman by the name of Connie Maheswaran-Universe. She too looked amazingly lively for someone approaching their 220th birthday. In fact, she looked more than spry enough to wield the massive, modified claymore sword on her back.

And last but not least was the voice of the group, singing his heart out to the tune his father provided. Steven Quartz Universe, if one were to believe the legends, was a demigod. If, however, you were to ask him, his wife, or his father instead, they would NOT tell you that he was a hybrid, born from a human father and a Crystal Gem mother, and had overcharged healing powers. Instead, they would simply smile and answer in such a way that whatever crazy idea you thought was true sounded even truer.

Why?

Humanity hated the gems. Stranded Gems and their monstrous corrupted forms still popped up from time to time and terrorized the small villages. That and the collective scar that the calamity had left on humanity had turned humanity against the very idea of gems.

The Universes didn't mind, though. Steven had a job to do and Connie had vowed to fight by his side for all time. As for Greg, he couldn't possibly leave his son and daughter-in-law when they were defending humanity from the horrors of the world, now could he?

As the song ended, Steven slid off Lion's back, eliciting a yawn from the big cat. "Good jam session, you two," he said. "But you know what we need now?"

"Combat practice," Connie replied.

"Right, how are we doing it today?" Greg asked. Then, seeing Steven and Connie's expressions, he immediately gulped. "I hate fighting Stevonnie," he grumbled.

The gem hybrid grabbed his wife's hand and began to dance. "Well, Dad, how else are you going to learn how to fight large opponents?"

"I know, I know," Greg replied as Stevonnie flashed into existence. He lifted his own weapon, a battle axe, and got into a ready stance.

A pink suit of armor materialized around the 7'5" frame of the fusion. Between Rose's sword, which Stevonnie was big enough to wield one-handed, and Steven's perfect shield, there was a reason the pink knight was a legendary warrior.

Poor Greg Universe never stood a chance against them.

* * *

"Hang on," Steven said as he examined his father's cuts. "Let me just patch this up real quick." The hybrid spat on each of his hands, rubbed them together, and then placed them on his father's exposed back.

Connie, as fascinated as ever with her love's powers, watched as Greg's wounds stitched themselves shut, expelling the dirt and grime in the process. Greg, meanwhile, shuddered at the feeling. "Brrrr... That always feels so weird when you do that," he said. "Good, but weird."

Steven smiled. "But hey, it's kept you alive all these years."

Greg turned around and looked at the man who was nearly identical to him in every way save hairstyle and muscle mass. "I wasn't complaining, bucko."

Steven nodded. "Hey, Connie, what do you want to do now?"

Connie thought for a moment as she continued her cool down stretches. "Aren't we running low on food and water? We should probably resupply soon."

"Mmm hmm," Steven agreed. "We probably need more. I think we're running low on money, too. Let me check." The hybrid took a deep breath and jumped into Lion's mane, to the annoyance of Lion.

Connie and Greg waited in silence for Steven to reappear. Eventually, seconds stretched into nearly two minutes. "How long can he hold his breath?" Greg asked.

"A long time," Connie replied. "But this is starting to get ridiculous."

Seconds later, Steven popped out, gasping for air. Now noticeably more morose, Steven said, "Sorry, I... Pearl..."

"Steven," Connie said as she walked over to him. "I miss Pearl and the others, too, but you need to stop getting so sad every time you walk past her grave in Lion's mane. She wouldn't want you to be sad _every time_ you think of her, now would she?"

The last Crystal Gem sighed. "No, you're right, Connie. Happy thoughts."

"That's the spirit!" Connie replied. Then, she looked away. "Not to be insensitive or anything, but..."

The muscular warrior waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Me. I meant me. Food, we have to worry about that. We're running out."

"Well then, I think we'll have to get some more," the Indian woman replied. "I'm feeling like sushi today."

"Oh, that sounds good," Greg agreed.

"Sushi it is, then. Lion!" Steven approached his animal companion, who simply remained on the ground. "Quit lyin' around, Lion."

"Raaaagh."

Steven rolled his eyes. "Get up, Lion. We need to fuse."

And they really did need to. Steven, Connie, and Greg were three fully grown adults, and the two men were both very large. True, Steven could shift to a smaller size, but even then, it was a little too much for Lion to carry comfortably. He was a carnivorous cat, not a beast of burden. However, when Steven fused with Lion, the big cat's strength and size was more than enough to comfortably carry Connie, Greg, and another should the need arise.

Lion stood up and bowed. Steven returned the bow. Then, standing tall, the two began to circle one another. A full revolution later, Lion crouched and pounced at Steven, who charged back. The two collided, melting into pinkish-white light.

The figure solidified. Standing at a whopping eleven feet high, Lieven could be best described as a centaur, but with the lower body of a pink savanna cat. Lion's mane and Steven's curly hair - both his head and chest hair - had merged to form a mane styled almost identically to Rose's hair. And lastly, the fusion had stripped Steven of all his clothing, exposing Lieven's muscular torso and arms to the world.

Lieven looked down at Steven's family with disinterested eyes. He laid down, pressing his lower belly against the ground to allow Connie and Greg to climb on him. "Let's go," he droned.

Connie jumped on quickly, wrapping her arms around Lieven's chest and burying her face in his pink mane. Greg climbed on behind her and grabbed onto the voluminous locks that spilled out around Connie. "All ready!" the true human male declared.

Lieven nodded. After taking a moment to gain his bearings, Lieven broke out into a quick canter before accelerating into a full-out sprint. As he ran, he magically probed the space-time continuum for an exploitable weak spot that he could power through to get to his destination.

He made a sharp right and ran for several more blocks before again turning right. Central Park stood before them, just as dead as the rest of the state of New York. Lieven bounded into the park and towards the nearby lake. He ran out onto the water and roared, slashing his arm across as he did. The sound, much louder and deeper than anything human vocal cords could create, carried with it a blast of energy that tore a hole in reality.

Lieven and his passengers jumped through it. A few seconds later, they materialized on the Inland Sea of Japan, within Osaka Bay. Since the fall of Tokyo, Osaka - or what was left of it - had become Japan's capital. With only a single percent of its population and a crumbling infrastructure left, it had become one of the world's many scavenger cities.

Under the cover of darkness, Lieven sprinted across the bay, towards one of the piers. He jumped up on it and quickly let his passengers dismount. Then, with his job finished, Lieven's Lion portion split off from Steven, depositing him in a heap on the ground.

Steven stood and brushed himself off. "That's always really fun," he commented.

"Oh yeah," Connie replied while Greg nodded.

"I've got to write a song about that someday," the father replied.

Steven smiled. "Let's go get rooms for the night. Lion, you're on your own for now; we'll call you if we need you."

Lion stared at Steven for a second, unresponsive. Then he yawned. Turning, the pink animal walked away to who knows where to do who knows what. Probably eat, if Steven had to guess.

"Let's go." With that, the three Universes set off to explore the exotic land, fight monsters, and have fun. After all, what use was it surviving the calamity if you were sad all the time?


	3. Chapter 3: Into the Garden

Today was not a day for monsters. In fact, if he could avoid it, this week or month was not a time for monsters. While Steven had grown into his gem-level endurance over the years, and thus could have fought and adventures practically non-stop, his human companions, however bolstered and rejuvenated by his magic they may have been, could not.

Besides, Steven, like every man, woman, and child, likes having a place that he could call his own. A home.

Steven's Paradise.

It was literally called that, nowadays. Beach City had survived the war, if only just. Back then, he'd stuck around afterwards and continued building. Every time he came back, he'd bring news and supplies, and he'd help build up the town just a little more. This continued again and again, and when the townsfolk realized that the town's own hero had eternal youth and no intentions of ever leaving, they'd renamed the town after him.

And because Steven was Steven, he hated just riding a Lion™ brand wormhole straight home, and instead insisted on walking the main road.

"Connie..."

"I'll see you at home, Steven," she said. The woman patted Lion on his side, signaling him to take Connie and Greg home.

"See you!" Steven watched as his family jumped through the wormhole. Then, turning around, he began to walk.

The breeze around him carried the smell of the sea, but it also carried the scent of a forest, and for good reason. Ahead of him stood beach city, in all its wooden glory. Impossibly tall trees dotted the skyline, with the houses carved out of their still-living trunks. Vines with all manner of delicious fruit hung within easy reach no matter where you stood. Bridges crisscrossed from home to home. And yet, on the other side of the city, Steven knew that the Atlantic Ocean lay proud and clear.

Steven jogged towards the main road. A glow of pink surrounded him as he ran, transforming him into a middle-aged man with thinning red, short hair and no beard at all. His clothes, conjured by his rose quartz gem, shifted. His shirt loosened from his white muscle shirt with star-shaped hole around the belly button, to a more normal white T-shirt. His shorts, also the same pinkish-white (as that was the easiest color to conjure), extended into denim jeans.

All in all, he was completely unrecognizable from what he had been. And, with his gem now hidden, he was unrecognizable for what he was. That was exactly the way he wanted it.

The shape-shifter stepped out from behind a thicket and onto the main road. The road itself was perpetually busy with travelers from across the world going to and from the fantastical city. With gasoline these days costing a week's wage for a single gallon, let alone the difficulty of acquiring a working car, most of the pilgrims came on horseback, wagons drawn by whatever animal would pull it, or by bicycle.

Steven walked up behind a large wagon with a pulling team. "Mind if I hitch a ride the rest of the way into the city?" He asked one of the women in the back.

She blinked owlishly at the sudden question, but then held out her hand. "Sure, climb on."

Steven took the offered hand and hoisted himself up. "Thanks," he replied. "It's a long walk from here, and I like meeting new people. I'm Lars," he lied.

"Like the guy from the legend that fought alongside the Pink Knight?" she asked.

"That's the one!" Steven agreed.

"Cool. I'm Cara, that's my sister, Kathleen, and my mom, Susan. My dad's outside, driving the wagon," Cara said.

"So, what made you want to come out to this little slice of heaven? The scenery, the people, the donuts..."

"The fountain of the Crystal Gems," Kathleen said. "I hurt my leg beyond anything the doctors could do to fix it." Steven looked down, noticing for the first time her leg cast. "They say the fountain can heal anything. I'm not sure I believe it, but at this point, we're out of options."

Steven gave her a thumbs up. "You'll be fixed in no time!"

"You really think so? Can it really heal Sis?" Cara asked.

"Of course. I live in Paradise. I'm one of the guys that helps unclog it when plants start growing into the pipes; I know that the fountain works," Steven said, much to the delight of the family he was with. "Hey, how about I give you a tour?"

"That would be cool," Cara said.

* * *

"... And over there is the Big Donut. I helped rebuild it after the original one burnt down," Steven explained. "And there... Wait, that's not right."

Steven was looking towards the fountain. It stood proud, with statues of Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Rose, hands interlocked, and all facing outwards. Behind them, the pink-tinged healing water erupted in a continuous, majestic geyser. The problem wasn't the fountain itself, but the barrier that had been erected around it and the hundreds of angry people.

He hopped out of the wagon and walked up to the crowd. "What's going on here?" he asked a random person.

"They're charging money to use the fountain. Dunno how much, but I'm guessing it's a lot."

Steven growled. "Not if I can help it." The hybrid set off, pushing his way through the crowd until he reached the front. When he reached it, he found a man he vaguely recognized from around town collecting an entry fee from everybody that went by. "Hey, what are you doing? The fountain is supposed to be free."

"Not anymore," the man replied. "New rules from Sir Steven himself; I'm just doing my job."

The entire forest froze. Despite the perpetual sea breeze, across the entire city, not a single one of the massive trees' leaves rustled. The vines that covered the city and grew strange, nutritious fruit tensed up. Moss puffed up, becoming thicker on whatever surface it was on. And around the fountain, hundreds of peashooters - plants that could fire peas fast enough to injure - aimed themselves at the man. "What did you say?"

A hush fell over the crowd. The residents of the town and anyone who had been touched already by Steven's power found themselves with no desire to speak, and the rest simply followed along. Connie called it biokinesis, and theorized that it was an expansion of Rose's phytokinesis, where his human body had taught his gem how to control animal matter as well. And while his biokinesis, combined with his healing ability, could restore the youth of anyone he so chose, it also acted as a form of limited mind control.

The crowd, silenced, simply stared at them. "I asked: What. Did. You. Say?"

"Sir Steven imposed a tax to use his fountain," the man replied. And, if Steven hadn't been Steven, he would have likely believed the man - his delivery was very convincing.

Light erupted from Steven's skin as he transformed back into his real self and simultaneously donned his armor, excluding the helmet. While he normally went around in a form nearly identical to his father, his true, gem-defined form was that same form, only _Rose_ -sized.

When an angry, 7'11" semi-immortal wall of muscle, covered in heavy plate-armor, appears in front of you, well, you tend to listen to what he has to say.

"Tax the fountain. I don't remember telling anybody to _tax my fountain._ " Steven snapped his fingers, causing vines to erupt out of the ground and dismantle the barricade around the fountain. "This fountain is free for all to use. And if you feel so inclined to say otherwise, well, you won't be saying much at all."

Steven's hand shot out and grasped the man's neck. He didn't squeeze hard, but choking the man wasn't his goal. Instead, his ability to control flesh caused the nerves around his vocal cords to die away. "Enjoy your silence, and don't come back."

The man tried to squeak out a response, but no sound came out. Realizing that he was now a mute, he wisely decided to run away before anything else could happen.

... not that Steven was planning to do anything else, mind you. Besides, the next time that man touched the healing waters of the fountain, his voice would come back. The only thing keeping him away would be his shame and the stigma generated by the rumor mill.

The half-human turned to the crowd. "The fountain is free for all. Be happy and enjoy your good health!"

The gathered people cheered wildly. Steven stood for a minute, drinking in the adoration. After a few good seconds of basking in the applause, Steven wandered back towards the wagon he had rode into town on.

Kathleen and her family went wide-eyed as he walked up. "Hey, sorry for not telling you who I was earlier. I'm Steven Universe."

"Oh..." Kathleen, like her family, was a little shocked at seeing the living legend.

"Here, let me take a look at your leg." He licked his hand and placed it against her thigh. The leg sparkled for a moment. "There, that should do it."

"Thank you!"

"My pleasure," he replied. "Well, I best be off."

As he turned around to head to where he was meeting Connie and his father, Cara called out to him, "Wait!" She turned towards her mother. "Mom, the thing!"

Susan blinked, and then dug into her bag. A second later, she pulled out a box, and from that, she pulled out a round, green sphere. And then it started to move.

"Where did you get this?" He asked as he yanked the object from the mother's grasp.

"Over near the Kentucky crater, in Lexington," she replied. "It's one of those gem things... and I thought someone in this town might know what to do with it. There's a lot of them over there."

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention," he replied, barely masking his sudden rage. For in his hand lay a creation of one of the two gems he reserved true hatred for. It was one of Peridot's hand robonoids. "Damn you, Peridot. You can't hide for much longer."

* * *

 _Author's notes:_

 _This story's future setting is compliant with Steven Universe episodes up to Chille Tid. It may diverge from the story as new episodes come out, but I'll try to keep it as accurate as I can._


End file.
